A History of Women's Shirts

Women's blouses are rarely called a blouse anymore by retailers and shoppers alike. They are more often called women's tops or women's shirts but back in the 1960's they were still called women's blouses.  The name change to shirts is a reasonably recent occurrence and one needs to ask the question "why"?

Blouse is an interesting word left over from an unknown period in time. Language is an interesting barometer of cultural and social change. My trusty Oxford Dictionary circa 1964 describes the word blouse as:

"blouse (-owze )n. Workmen's loose linen or cotton upper garment usu. belted at waist (chiefly French): woman's loose light bodice visible only to waist, & there belted. {F.of unkn.orig}

So from that explanation we know that the word is of unknown origin and that it was originally worn by workmen who would probably have been considered of a lesser social standing in a society governed by social pecking order. It begs the question as to why society ladies pinched the design and made it fashionable.

They probably re-designed the name first by actually calling it a blouse whereas a workman would have referred to it as his shirt. It probably was his shirt even though it was sewn and fashioned in a blowsy design to allow a man to swing an axe or scythe the wheat uninhibited from his clothes limiting his movements.  

So it seems to me that we have now come full circle again in reverse with women now calling their blouse a shirt. It would seem that the more we change the more we stay the same.

Over the years the designs have changed frequently. Just in my time I remember the lacy, feminine blouses, the tight fitting, the loose fitting, the low front, polo necks…you name it and many have seen it come into and out of fashion like a model stuck in a revolving door. The only thing that hasn't changed with each design and fashion is the versatility the garment offers. It is something that can be worn with anything. You can dress it up and dress it down, as my Mum used to say about multi-functional clothes items.

The versatility given by adding a few blouses, shirts, tops or whatever else you want to name them this season is a great addition to any well-dressed woman's wardrobe. 

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